Believing and Knowing
by chocolatequeen
Summary: During an autumn holiday in Oregon, the Doctor and Rose finally took the first steps into a new relationship. Now they've landed on an impossible planet-are they ready for the challenges their relationship will face? Sequel to Gold can Stay.
1. Chapter 1

In the tiny quarters Ida had assigned to them, the Doctor silently stripped off his Oxford and handed it to Rose. It was an exchange they'd made dozens of times when they were unexpectedly stuck somewhere overnight—his shirts were big enough for her to wear as a nightshirt, and with all the layers he wore, he could easily give one up.

Rose disappeared into the tiny loo to change, and the Doctor swallowed hard when she came back a few minutes later with her clothes folded in a neat pile and his shirt sleeves rolled up to her elbows. It occurred to him then that there was a difference between seeing your best friend (for whom you were harbouring secret romantic feelings) wearing your clothes, and seeing the woman you were in a romantic relationship with wearing your clothes.

"Can I turn the light off?" she asked. He nodded, and a moment later, the room was thrown into semi-darkness, lit only by the emergency lights above the door.

The Doctor felt the mattress shift as Rose crawled under the covers, and then her warm human body curled itself around his. They let out simultaneous sighs—sharing a bed had become a pleasure they both enjoyed since she'd realised he was sneaking in to sleep with her every night.

Rose's finger traced a pattern over and over on his chest, and her delicate touch through his thin vest was driving him to distraction. After a long moment, he reached up and stilled her hand.

"What is it, Rose?"

She flexed her fingers, digging her nails into his stomach. "You're going down with Ida tomorrow, aren't you?"

The Doctor blinked and looked down at the blonde head resting on his shoulder. _Why does it surprise me that she figured that out?_ he asked himself. _Rose has always been able to read me._

"It's the best chance I've got to find the TARDIS," he explained. She drew in a shuddering breath, so he squeezed her tight before continuing. "She's down there, Rose. Just waiting."

She nodded, and he felt her hair brush against his chin. "I know. Just…" She sucked in a breath then let it out quickly. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

The Doctor hummed noncommittally. "Oh, you know me," he said.

But Rose knew him too well to be fooled by the breezy answer. "I do know you," she agreed. "An' that's why I'm asking you to be careful." She lifted up her head, and even in the dark room, the Doctor could see the plea in her whiskey brown eyes. "For me."

That was a request he could never deny. He cupped her face with his hand and brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. "For you," he promised.

Rose leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. The Doctor's hand slipped to the back of her neck, holding her close so he could stretch out what she'd intended to be a fleeting kiss. Judging by her hum of pleasure when he scraped his teeth over her lower lip, she didn't have any objections.

Her hand sank into his hair, pulling a low moan from his throat. When she scratched his scalp lightly, he ran his tongue over her lip until she opened her mouth to him. She sighed in approval when his tongue swept inside, but it was her gasp of pleasure when he flicked it over the roof of her mouth that had the Doctor wanting to roll her over onto her back and make love to her.

He entertained the idea for one, no for two minutes, as he continued to kiss her. His hand dropped down to her back, resting just above the curve of her bum and pulling her tight against him.

But as good as it felt to have her body rock against his, there was a mauve light flashing in the back of his mind, reminding him of… something. Probably some stuffy Time Lord rule, but he still eased out of the kiss enough to catch hold of the thought.

 _Not even a week._

Ah. Yes. They hadn't even been together for a week. And while he was certain that was plenty of time for Rose to adjust and be ready to take their relationship to the next level, he was still getting used to the changes.

Her whimper when he pulled his lips from hers nearly broke his restraint, but he managed to hang on, pressing his forehead to hers while he regained control of his breathing. _So much for respiratory bypass,_ he mused wryly.

Her breath on his lips came in pants and gasps, and the Doctor couldn't deny the feeling of pride that gave him. When her heart rate had returned to normal, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Too soon?"

He nodded. "Just a bit."

Rose bit her lip, and the Doctor's eyes fixed on the sight. "Then maybe we should get some rest," she suggested, apparently completely oblivious that she was pushing his control to the absolute limit.

"That… that sounds like a good idea," he stammered.

When she smiled at him with her tongue peeking out through her teeth, he realised she wasn't as unaware as she pretended to be. He rolled his eyes and pressed her head down to his chest, even as he longed to suck that tongue back into his mouth where it belonged.

"Go to sleep, Rose Tyler," he ordered, and her body shook slightly with quiet giggles.

Needing to unwind, the Doctor slowed down his breathing and heart rate. He felt some of the tension ease out of his body as he did so, and Rose relaxed into him a little more.

"Doctor, I've gotta tell you something, even if you're sleeping," Rose whispered ten minutes later.

The Doctor thought about letting her know he was awake, but there was something in her voice… whatever she was about to say, she needed to get the words out.

"I know you feel guilty for trapping me here," she continued. "But tomorrow, you're gonna go down that drill shaft and find the TARDIS and get us out of here. You will, Doctor. I believe in you."

It took every bit of the Doctor's self-control to not flinch at that declaration. Rose's unswerving faith in him humbled and scared him, because what if he didn't meet her expectations? He certainly hadn't done a good job of looking out for her this month, letting her face be taken by the Wire and then getting her trapped on an impossible planet.

"But I meant what I said," she added. "Even if we never find her, and we're stuck here for the rest of our lives… I've got you. Being with you, that's not stuck."

She was quiet for so long that the Doctor thought she'd drifted off to sleep. Then he felt the barest brush of her lips against his neck, followed by words spoken so softly, he could barely make them out.

"I'm happy as long as I'm with you, Doctor, because I love you."

If her lips had still been against his neck, she would have realised he was awake by his suddenly racing pulse.

But she wasn't finished. "And… even though you haven't said it, I know you love me, too. And that's enough for me."

oOoOoOoOo

Twelve hours later, the Doctor dangled over the pit. He'd reached the end of his line and the only option left was to jump. There was just one thing he wished…

"If they get back in touch…" He swallowed hard. "If you talk to Rose, just tell her."

The Doctor looked down into the abyss. Could he tell her like this, via a messenger? When he might not ever see her to repeat the words in person?"

He tried again. "Tell her I…"

The words stuck in his throat. He couldn't do it. For a moment, he hated himself for not being able to leave her this small comfort, but then he remembered the night before.

"Oh, she knows," he whispered, feeling a ghost of a smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor had just started to explore the cavern at the bottom of the pit when he heard a roar from the planet's surface. "The rocket," he murmured. Rose would be on board—Zach wouldn't have left her behind. He felt one of his hearts go with her, and he swore to himself that he would find the TARDIS, and her.

But first… He shone his torch on the wall, illuminating some cave paintings. "The history of some big battle," he narrated. "Man against Beast. I don't know if you're getting this, Ida. Hope so. Anyway, they defeated the Beast and imprisoned it."

The cavern opened up, and in front of a chasm stood two bronze urns on pedestals. The Doctor looked at the urns, then back at the painting, which depicted the same image.

"Or maybe that's the key," he muttered as he touched one. Both urns lit up, and he took a step back. "Or the gate, or the bars."

A horned figure clothed in flame rose out of the deep. The Doctor looked at the Beast chained to the wall and took a deep breath. "I accept that you exist. I don't have to accept what you are, but your physical existence, I'll give you that."

The Beast roared wordlessly in reply, and the Doctor stepped closer to the rim of the chasm. "I don't understand. I was expected down here. I was given a safe landing and air." He cocked his head—there was some detail he didn't understand yet. "You need me for something. What for?"

The metallic clang of chains being stretched to their limit echoed through the chamber as the Beast lunged towards the Doctor, only to be stopped when he reached the end of his leash. It raged impotently, its face still a good ten feet away from the Doctor.

"Have I got to, I don't know, beg an audience?" the Doctor asked, growing impatient. The longer he spent negotiating with it, the further away Rose got. "Or is there a ritual? Some sort of incantation or summons or spell? All these things I don't believe in, are they real? Speak to me! Tell me! You won't talk."

The Beast rose to its full height and shifted its weight from side to side. Looking up at the speechless creature, the Doctor's brain finally caught up with his mouth. "Or you can't talk," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, hold on, wait a minute, just let me." He paced in front of the chasm, trying to piece together everything he knew about the Beast. "Oh! No. Yes! No. Think it through. You spoke before," he said, pointing at the Beast. "I heard your voice. An intelligent voice. No, more than that. Brilliant. But, looking at you now, all I can see is Beast. The animal. Just the body. You're just the body, the physical form. What's happened to your mind, hmm? Where's it gone? Where's that intelligence? Oh, no."

The Doctor looked up towards the planet's surface and the reaches of space beyond. He'd heard the Beast through Toby and the Ood. The mind of the Beast was no longer here; it had entered the sanctuary base.

The Doctor started speaking faster as he pieced everything together. "You're imprisoned, long time ago. Before the universe, after, sideways, in between, doesn't matter. The prison is perfect. It's absolute, it's eternal. Oh, yes!" he crowed. "Open the prison, the gravity field collapses. This planet falls into the black hole! You escape, you die. Brilliant!"

The Beast's silence felt smug, and the Doctor's jubilation disappeared when he remembered why, exactly, he'd been thinking about the prison in the first place.

"But that's just the body," he said slowly. "The body is trapped, that's all. The devil is an idea. In all those civilisations, just an idea. But an idea is hard to kill. An idea could escape. The mind. The mind of the great Beast. The mind can escape!" Oh, but that's it! You didn't give me air, your jailers did. They set this up all those years ago! They need me alive, because if you're escaping, then I've got to stop you." The Doctor scooped up a rock so he could smash the urns. He stared at the Beast, coldly victorious. "If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed. Your mind with it."

He raised the rock over his head, ready to perform the task assigned to him by the Beast's jailers all those millennia ago. Doing this would make it almost impossible to escape, unless he could miraculously find the TARDIS, but at least Rose would be safe.

Except… He lowered his arms and the rock fell out of his hands, landing on the sand with a dull thud. "But then you're clever enough to use this whole system against me." The Doctor leaned against one of the pedestals and stared at the urn. "If I destroy this planet, I destroy the gravity field. The rocket. The rocket loses protection and falls into the black hole. I have to sacrifice Rose. So, that's the trap. Or the test, or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill her."

The Beast threw its head back and cackled. For a few terrible seconds, the Doctor's determination wavered. Could he put Rose in danger like that? Then he remembered who he was talking about—Rose Tyler, the girl who had swung across a vat of bubbling plastic to rescue him, the woman who had been so determined to return to his side that she had opened his TARDIS and stared into the Time Vortex.

He smirked and shook his head. "Except that implies in this big grand scheme of gods and devils that she's just a victim. But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods, and out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing, just one thing, I believe in her."

The Doctor picked the stone back and brought it down on first one urn, then the other as the Beast thrashed in rage. "This is your freedom," he said. "Free to die. You're going into that black hole, and I've got an appointment to save a rocket."

The cavern started to collapse, and the Doctor turned and ran, following the familiar song he suddenly heard. He narrowly dodged several rocks falling around his head, and then he tripped and stumbled back into something solid.

He looked over his shoulder and laughed breathlessly when he saw the wonderful blue doors of his home. The quake worsened as the gravity funnel failed, but the Doctor stumbled to his feet and pushed the door open, racing to the controls.

His ship was urging him to hurry so they could save Rose, but the Doctor held up a finger. "One stop first," he said, taking them back up to the entrance to the pit. Ida was slumped over when he found her, and he quickly pulled her into the TARDIS and took her helmet off, letting her breath the oxygen-rich air.

"All right, now to find the rocket," he muttered, turning the scanner on. The gravity funnel was gone, meaning the rocket would be tumbling slowly towards the event horizon of the black hole.

He located it in under a minute and then discovered the TARDIS hadn't been idle in that time. At his fingertips was a new control, one he knew would create a gravity lasso around the rocket, allowing him to pull it to safety.

 _Thanks, old girl,_ he told her as he twisted the knob. Despite knowing this would work, he still held his breath until he felt the TARDIS begin to move slowly away from the black hole.

Then he hailed the rocket. "Sorry about the hijack, Captain," he told Zach. "This is the good ship TARDIS. Now, first thing's first. Have you got a Rose Tyler on board?"

"I'm here!" Rose cried out, and he let out a breath. "It's me! Oh, my God. Where are you?"

The Doctor grinned, relief making him a bit manic. "I'm just towing you home. Gravity schmavity. My people practically invented black holes." He considered the Eye of Harmony for a moment. "Well, in fact, they did," he amended, then veered back on topic. "In a couple of minutes, we'll be nice and safe. Oh, and Captain? Can we do a swap?" He looked over his shoulder at Ida, who was leaning against a strut, taking deep breaths. "Say, if you give me Rose Tyler, I'll give you Ida Scott? How about that?"

"She's alive!" Zach shouted joyfully.

"Yes," Danny whispered, just loudly enough to be heard. "Thank God."

The Doctor nodded, even though they couldn't see him. "Yeah! Bit of oxygen starvation, but she should be all right." He paused, a sombre thought invading his victorious happiness. "I couldn't save the Ood. I only had time for one trip. They went down with the planet."

The TARDIS dinged, and the Doctor glanced down at the console. "Ah! Entering clear space. End of the line. Mission closed."

"How do you propose we do this swap?" Zach asked.

"I'll land in your cargo hold in just a moment," the Doctor answered. "I'll let Ida out, if you'd be so kind as to bring Rose down so she can come home."

There was a puzzled pause, but after a moment, Zach said, "Of course."

The TARDIS almost flew itself as the Doctor navigated her to materialise in the cargo hold of the rocket. As soon as they set down gently, he helped Ida to her feet and held the door open for her. She thanked him groggily, but he hardly heard it, every fibre of his being focused on seeing Rose again.

He thought about waiting by the console, so he wouldn't seem overly eager, but then he muttered, "Bollocks to that." This was the woman he was in love with—and she already knew that. What was he thinking he'd keep from her if he didn't greet her at the door?

Twenty seconds after Ida shuffled into the main part of the rocket, a flash of pink caught the Doctor's eye. Rose paused just inside the cargo hold, and he opened his arms for her. The joy on her face nearly blinded him. She raced into the TARDIS, flinging the door shut behind her, and then she jumped into his arms with so much force, it almost knocked them both to the ground.

The Doctor took a step back to brace himself and keep them upright, keeping Rose tight in his arms. "Hello," he whispered happily, nuzzling into her hair.

Rose tightened her arms and legs around him and giggled breathlessly. "Hi." She pressed a kiss to his neck, then said, "I have to say, as far as rescues go, this gets high marks for style."

The Doctor laughed and swung her around in a circle before gently putting her back on her feet. As soon as she was standing, her hands shot up to grab his lapels and he gladly bent down to meet her lips in a kiss.

At the first touch of her lips, all of the Doctor's control went up like a match.He groaned deep in his throat and ran his tongue over her lips, encouraging her to open for him. As soon as she did, he swept inside her mouth, tasting the intoxicating blend of hormones and pheromones she was producing. Hints of fear and anxiety still lingered, but they were fading as joy, relief, and desire surged forward.

He pulled back from her mouth so she could breathe and moved his lips to her neck, using his tongue to catch the taste of salt on her skin, then sucking lightly on her pulse point.

"You taste so good, Rose," he whispered, scraping his teeth over the spot and relishing the way she moaned in response.

"Doctor…" she breathed. A moment later, he felt her hands tugging the zipper of his space suit down, and he cooperated with her as she pushed it off his shoulders.

Free from the constriction of the suit, he was able to wrap his arms around her more tightly, holding her as close as he could. For a moment, the emotions of the day broke through the frenzy of the moment, and he just held her, thinking about how close they'd come to losing each other.

"Doctor," she said, and he hummed in response. "Are we still on the rocket?"

He blinked. That wasn't what he'd expected her to say. But… "Ah. Yes, we are." He took a step back and nearly tripped over the suit crumpled around his ankles. He stepped out of it and walked over to the console. "Why don't we give them a call and say goodbye?"

Rose combed a hand through her hair while the Doctor hailed the rocket, even though she knew the call would be audio only. She felt self-consciously at the spot on her neck he'd been working, then she shrugged. If he'd given her a love bite…

The Doctor looked at her over his shoulder, and his gaze narrowed when he realised where her hand was. "There's no mark… yet," he said, and her belly swooped at the promise in his voice. "Now! Are we ready to say goodbye to our friends?" She nodded, and he hit the button.

As soon as the console beeped, he started talking. "Zach? We'll be off, now. Have a good trip home. And the next time you get curious about something…" His voice trailed off and he shook his head. "Oh, what's the point?" he asked, amused exasperation in his voice. "You'll just go blundering in. The human race."

"But Doctor, what did you find down there?" Ida asked. "That creature, what was it?"

The Doctor stiffened at the question. Anyone else might not have noticed, but Rose knew him too well.

"I don't know," he said, his voice not leaving room for questions. "Never did decipher that writing. But that's good. Day I know everything?" He shrugged. "Might as well stop."

Rose couldn't stop the question before it tumbled out of her mouth. "What do you think it was, really?"

He looked at her, his eyes solemn. "I think we beat it. That's good enough for me."

"It said I was going to die in battle," Rose half-whispered, cursing herself even before the words were out of her mouth. She'd just convinced him to move past his fear of her death—what was she doing?

"Then it lied." The Doctor held her gaze until she nodded, then he looked back at the monitor. "Right, onwards, upwards. Ida? See you again, maybe."

"I hope so," she said.

"And thanks, boys!" Rose called out to Zach and Danny. They'd saved her life by taking her onto the rocket. If she hadn't been there to kill Toby…

The Doctor reached for the control to end the transmission, but Ida's voice stopped him.

"Hang on though, Doctor. You never really said. You two, who are you?"

He grinned at Rose, and giddy happiness bubbled up inside her. "Oh, the stuff of legend," he said, then flicked a switch and cut the transmission off.

Finally finished with their adventure on the impossible planet, the Doctor threw the dematerialisation lever and took them back into the Vortex. As soon as he was done, Rose felt him come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist, nuzzling into her neck.

"Now, I think we were in the middle of something, weren't we?"

Rose shivered when the Doctor swept her hair back and kissed the nape of her neck. "Were we?" she asked coyly.

"Oh, I think so." His lips trailed along her jawline, and she turned her head so she could kiss him. One of his hands slipped under her shirt, and Rose gasped when she felt his cool fingers against her ribs. "This okay?" he whispered.

She almost laughed—didn't he know how okay this was? Then she remembered something, and turned in his arms so she could see his face.

"That depends," she said, her voice even despite the huskiness she couldn't hide. "Are you really ready for this, Doctor? Because I can't go back from this. If we take this step…" She bit her lip, letting the sentence trail off.

To her surprise, the Doctor smiled gently. "I wouldn't ask you to come to bed with me if I wasn't ready," he promised. He cradled her face between his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her cheekbones. "Rose Tyler… I love you."

Rose sighed happily. "I know," she told him. His left eyebrow arched in surprise and amusement, and her brain caught up with her mouth. "I love you too, Doctor."

The look in his eyes intensified. "Then will you let me make love to you?" he asked.

"Oh, yes."

The Doctor swept her up into his arms almost before the words were out of her mouth.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of soft voices pulled the Doctor from slumber, along with another familiar sensation he couldn't quite place. He mumbled a protest under his breath and curled into something warm and soft, not wanting to leave the comfort of the moment. Light laughter reached his ears then, and reluctantly, he opened his eyes.

Rose looked down at where he'd apparently snuggled into her, and the corners of her lips turned up in an affectionate smile. "I'm gonna remind you of this the next time I don't want to get out of bed," she told him.

He rolled onto his side so he could look over at her, reclining against a pile of pillows. "Does it really bother you that I want to stay here with you?" he asked, letting his gaze wander over her mostly naked upper body. She'd retrieved his vest and pulled it on, and honestly, seeing her in his clothing and knowing it was the only thing she wore…

"Hmmm… Let me get back to you on that," she teased, but her dark eyes answered the question for him.

He started to reach for her, but then he remembered what had woken him up. "Hang on. Who were you talking to a minute ago?"

She blinked, but the confusion quickly disappeared. "Oh, the TARDIS. I was thanking her for… well, for finding you, and getting us out of there."

The Doctor stared at her. Now he knew what that other sensation had been. Rose had been talking to the TARDIS, and the TARDIS had replied. He pushed himself up in bed and leaned against the wall. "Do you talk to her frequently?"

"Couple of times a day, maybe." Rose smiled mischievously. "Us girls gotta stick together, you know."

He nodded absently, his mind whirling. "And… you understand what she says in return?"

"Well yeah. I mean, what kind of conversation would it be if I just rambled without getting any response? That'd be more like talking to myself, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose it would." The Doctor raked his hand through his hair. "Have you always talked to her?"

Rose furrowed her brows. "No… I think that started around Christmas time." She stared at him when he blew out a breath. "Why're you asking so many questions, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked over at her, uncertain of how to explain what he thought might have happened, how to tell her about the Game Station in a way that wouldn't make her angry with him for keeping it a secret, how to ask if she would let him look into her mind to figure out of his suspicions were accurate.

When he remained silent, Rose nodded quickly and slid out of bed. The Doctor whined in protest when she pulled a pair of pyjama bottoms on, but Rose shook her head. "We need to talk, and I'm hungry. C'mon, Doctor, let's go to the galley and make breakfast. You can figure out how to tell me whatever is on your mind while you fry up the sausages," she tossed over her shoulder as she left the room.

He spared another moment to pout over the loss of her warmth beside him in bed before getting up and putting his own pyjamas on. Seeing their clothes scattered together around his room, he wished as hard as he could that Rose wouldn't be too upset with him, and that maybe this could be _their_ room from now on.

When he reached the galley, Rose already had all their favourite breakfast foods out on the counter and was slicing tomatoes. The Doctor set the trusty cast iron skillet on the burner and considered his options while he waited for it to heat.

In the end, he started with, "Do you remember me telling you the TARDIS is telepathic?"

Rose slid the tomatoes into the oven. "I remember you _not_ telling me until it just kinda slipped out," she retorted.

The Doctor put six pieces of bacon on one side of the skillet and sausages on the other. "Well, the only way you could be holding full conversations with her would be if you were telepathic too."

During the long pause that ensued, he imagined every sort of response she might give. Confusion, denial, anger… He did not expect what she actually said.

"Do you think it's because of what happened when I looked into her heart?"

The Doctor whipped around and pointed at her with the spatula. "What did… How did…"

Rose almost laughed at his wide-eyed shock, but now that they were finally talking about the Game Station, a little of her resentment over the secret crept out. "I started remembering bits and pieces after our trip to Scotland," she said, thinking about the way the werewolf had looked at her and said she had something of the wolf about her. "I think the TARDIS might have been helping. I know I opened up the console and looked at her heart, and then she and I flew back to the Game Station, together."

His eyes were wide with fear. "What else do you remember?"

"Not much," she assured him. "I know my plan was to find a way to save you, and you're here, so I assume I succeeded. But beyond that…"

The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and started pacing the length of the galley. "You looked into the Time Vortex, Rose. You took… you merged…" He took a breath and shook his head. "You wielded the raw power of time as a weapon. Time was yours to command, in a way that even Time Lords never achieved. You turned the entire Dalek fleet to dust."

"I am the Bad Wolf," Rose said, an echo of memory stirring.

"Yes." His confirmation was whisper-soft, and Rose started making the tea to give them both time to process what was happening.

After the kettle boiled and she poured water into the waiting cups, Rose boosted herself up onto the counter and looked at the Doctor, who had turned back to the bacon and sausages. The tense line of his shoulders sent a shiver of unease down her back; maybe this really was as dangerous as he feared.

The TARDIS hummed reassuringly, and Rose relaxed. Apparently everything was fine… now to convince the Doctor.

The Time Lord in question took up the breakfast meats and cracked a few eggs into the skillet. When he turned around to look at Rose again, the expression on his face was serious.

"Let's eat breakfast, and then I want to see if I'm right, and if you're okay. I know the TARDIS thinks this is all perfect, but the human brain is very delicate, and if she messed around with yours…"

Rose felt a sharp rush of anger that wasn't her own, and the Doctor stopped short. His lips pinched together in a thin line, and she could almost hear the argument flying between Time Lord and TARDIS.

"Come on," he said shortly after a few moments. "Let's eat. We can discuss your telepathy when we're done."

oOoOoOoOo

The Doctor seethed with anger, but he managed to set it aside while he and Rose had breakfast. Once he forced the thought of the TARDIS' interference out of his mind, his earlier happiness returned. No matter what they discovered today, they were together, and he had finally let himself show her how much he loved her.

The idea of introducing Rose to telepathic intimacy pushed its way to the front of the Doctor's mind. He studied his lover and carefully lowered his barriers so she could hear the thoughts he was projecting, if she were in fact telepathic.

Rose's cheeks turned pink, and she stared at the Doctor open-mouthed.

"Well, I think we've confirmed that you are a telepath," the Doctor drawled. He stared at Rose over the rim of his cup and let his thoughts wander without any restraint. He definitely appreciated the way his vest stretched across her chest, but he liked the way she looked naked even better.

A moment later, she sputtered and looked up at him, laughter glinting gold in her eyes. "Doctor, did you just tell me that as nice as I look wearing your shirt, you think it would look better on your bedroom floor?"

"Rose Tyler, would I use such a trite human pickup line?" he protested.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Um, yes."

When their laughter died down, he leaned forward. "Did you hear words, or was it more like images?"

"Pictures," Rose told him. "Me standing beside the bed, and you tugging on the hem of the shirt and then looking pointedly at the floor."

The Doctor's hearts sped up, and he cleared his throat. "That was basically what I was thinking," he told her. Rose licked her lips, and he wondered why exactly he'd thought a little flirtation was the best way to determine if she were telepathic.

He closed his eyes took a deep breath and counted to ten as he let it out. "Telepathic intimacy was far more common with my people than sex," he told her once he'd fought back the desire to pull her into his lap. "Last night, I didn't even consider touching your mind, because I didn't think it would be possible. But now that I know it is, I want you to understand all the possibilities before we make love again."

A wave of lust washed over his mind, and he clenched his hand around the handle of his knife. "Right," he said, his voice raspy. "And we need to discuss barriers soon, too."

Rose's desire receded, replaced by embarrassment, and he reached for her hand without thinking. They both shuddered at the tingle of connection, but the Doctor didn't retreat. "There's nothing wrong with projecting and sharing what you're thinking," he told Rose. "But you'll want to be aware of when you're doing it, and able to stop when you want."

She nodded. "Yeah, all right. That makes sense." A sly smile crossed her face and her tongue peeked out of the corner of her mouth. A moment later, the Doctor groaned as she shared a few ideas of her own.

"Do we really need to do any more talking?" she asked as she ran her thumb over his wrist. "I trust you, Doctor. Even the little bit of flirting we've done so far has been more intimate than anything I've shared with anyone else… and I love it."

"Are you _positive_ , Rose?"

Instead of answering, Rose closed her eyes. The Doctor was on the verge of asking her again when he felt her push a single sentence towards him.

 _Quit talking and take me back to bed._

Well, he wasn't going to argue with that. As the Doctor swept Rose up into his arms and carried her back to their room, he apologised briefly to the TARDIS for his earlier anger. Rose's telepathy might be an unexpected gift, but it was a gift he wouldn't be stupid enough to refuse.


End file.
